No Offers

Offer Day: Skadden Arps

By  
on

Tuesday and Wednesday, offers went out to people who want to participate in Skadden’s summer program. We haven’t heard any solid numbers yet, but so far it appears that prospective summers are satisfied with the results.
No news is good news regarding Skadden. In August, Skadden announced that it would be cutting its summer hiring in half. This morning, Bloomberg News reminded everybody that Skadden will be trying to keep its summer numbers down:

The stark reality of the legal marketplace was illustrated by yesterday’s 2010 job offers by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, the highest-grossing U.S. law firm. It projected a 50 percent cut in summer hiring, said Howard Ellin, the recruiting partner for Skadden. The firm hired 225 students this summer and plans to hire less than half that for summer 2010.

But just because Skadden plans to reduce hiring does not mean the firm intends to reduce its offer rate. If the firm planned this right — and based on the NALP forms it looks like it has — Skadden could have simply invited fewer people to be part of its 2010 summer program. Skadden could still give a robust offer rate to the summers that did commit to the firm.
Hopefully, everything will work out for prospective Skadden summers.
After the jump, Bloomberg has some interesting data on how this year’s fall recruiting is going at a couple of top law schools.


Firms can keep their offer rate high if they simply hire fewer summer associates. In all likelihood, that is what is happening on campuses this fall. Bloomberg reports:

The number of first-round interviews for second- and third- year Harvard Law School students fell 20 percent this year, Mark Weber, assistant dean for career services, wrote in an e-mail, adding that it’s too early to predict how many will get second interviews. At NYU, interviews plunged this school year compared with last, with callbacks for second interviews dropping “dramatically,” said Irene Dorzback, dean of career services.

A tipster sarcastically quipped:

[A]nother reprise of the same fall recruiting jam. I love how only Harvard and NYU students got shoutouts.

Sponsored

Seriously, if there is a law school in the nation that is experiencing an uptick in 2L and 3L interviews and callbacks, please let us know. Or let U.S. News know so your school can assume its rightful place in next year’s law school rankings.
If you can get a callback at Skadden this fall, you should probably take it.
Harvard Law Students Left Hanging as Firms Cut Offers [Bloomberg]
Earlier: Skadden To Reduce Summer Class of 2010 By Half

Sponsored

Topics